Worst Christmas Ever
by UltimateOtakuGirl100
Summary: For Kagome, this is the WORST CHRISTMAS EVER! It's been one accident after another; all the blizzards, nearly missing Christmas, lights getting stuck, meddling mothers, siblings that just can't seem to leave them alone, Inuyasha discovering hot chocolate, and mistletoe, and—!... Well, maybe it wasn't ALL bad... Rated T for fluff! :) —COMPLETED!
1. Late for Christmas?

Chapter 1: Late for Christmas?

**A/N: Yo! People of the FanFiction World! :P It's me, UltimateOtakuGirl100, with another… **

**Wait a second, why do I start EVERY new story like that?! **

**Oh, well. I'll redo that, I guess. I'm UltimateOtakuGirl100, back with another Inuyasha FanFic! '^.^**

**Wow, that was a fail of an intro. -_- **

**Anyways, I'm hoping that I can finish this story before Christmas, but if you have read other stories of mine, then you'll know it's hard for me to do stuff like that. :/ But I'm going to try my best! Who knows? **

**I mean, miracles DO happen… right? **

**Whatev. I'll stop boring you with my routine of relatively pointless A/Ns. **

**READ ON! **

* * *

It was a freezing winter day, not even warm enough for any sane person to even open their doors, and yet there they were; the group of mismatched oddballs, trekking through snow up to their waist and having snow from the blizzard pushing them back, all the while being tormented with arguments by…

Yep, you guessed it.

"Why couldn't you just let us stay in the village for _once_?!" Kagome screamed over the wind; her hands, although already covered by three layers of mittens, were shoved deeply into the pockets of her outermost coat. She no longer wore her school uniform—that would've been a death wish—but instead, she traded it out for several layers of coats, the one on the outside being a tannish color, a pink scarf around her neck, long, thick, black pants, and brown boots that were so ridiculously big and thick that, if it wasn't absolutely necessary, she never would've been caught dead wearing. Kagome's teeth chattered immediately after she stopped talking.

"Keh! Just because you're such a _weak wench_ doesn't mean we have to stop searching for _Naraku_!" Inuyasha snapped back; he wore absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, and the only difference with him seemed to be that he would jump instead of take regular steps, as to avoid getting stuck in the snow. Shippo and Kirara merely flew over it, using Kirara's own fire for whatever pathetic form of warmth they could manage in this snowstorm. The humans of the group, however, had no such luck.

"WEAK?! I'll have you know that most HUMANS in MY era can't even walk HALF the distance that I have to RUN! And it's EVERY SINGLE DAY, INUYASHA!"

"WENCH!"

"BAKA!"

This went on for almost half the day. In fact, it probably would've gone on the _entire_ day if Sango hadn't finally interrupted, moaning, "GUYS, GUYS! Sheesh! It's almost all the way through December, and you guys _still _haven't found a way to get along for long enough to accomplish anything!"

Kagome froze, and now, it had nothing to do with the temperature. "What… when… how far into the month is it?!" she whispered, just barely heard over the blizzard.

Sango hesitated at the tone of her voice. After a moment, she speculated, "Oh, I'd say… it's probably around the nineteenth or—"

"THE NINETEENTH?!" Kagome gasped, gripping the sides of her head in horror. "OH, NO!" She sagged a bit, so she fell a little deeper into the snow.

Wary and confused at her reaction, Inuyasha took a tentative step towards her. "Uh… Kagome? Are you… OK?"

"NOOO!" she wailed. "I promised Mom that I would be home two weeks before Christmas so I could help everyone decorate and pick out presents! I'll be lucky if I make it before Christmas Eve!"

Even more bewildered, they all inquired in unison, "_Christmas_?"

Kagome looked at them, shocked, and exclaimed, "You guys don't know about _Christmas_?!"

The group shook their heads.

She blinked. "Wow, I've never had to explain Christmas before." Kagome straightened. "Christmas is a holiday every twenty-fifth of December where you give presents to people you care about, and you spend time with them. This'll be the first year I spend away from my family," she described, voice thick with devastation at the end.

An awkward pause followed her explanation. After the silence became unbearable, Miroku broke it. "Inuyasha, why don't _you _take Kagome to her era for her holiday?"

Inuyasha twitched, uncomfortable with the sudden attention.

"Yeah!" Shippo chimed in, jumping off Kirara to land on Inuyasha's shoulder. "That way she won't have to miss celebrating with her family!"

"But—" Inuyasha tried to object weakly.

"That would work!" Sango approved, nodding her head. "And we could continue searching for Naraku while we wait for her to come back!"

"Uh—"

"Really?!" Kagome whispered hopefully, approaching Inuyasha through the snow. "You would do that for me?"

"Er—"

"Oh, _thank_ you, Inuyasha!" she cheered, jumping at him in an embrace that Inuyasha hadn't been prepared for, and just barely managed not to fall into the snow. His cheeks seemed to grow a little red, but that was probably just the snow hindering their vision. Kagome beamed. "You won't regret it!"

The group paused, watching the two. Then Inuyasha sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah… Let's just go already…"

* * *

By the time the two of them finally arrived at the well, it was well past nightfall, and they were both exhausted. "Okay," panted Inuyasha, letting her slide off his back, "You can go to your time now, and I'll just wait in the village with the others until you're done with this… uh… 'Chriss-nas' thing."

Kagome laughed. "Christmas."

"Yeah, that."

Kagome smiled, yawned, and put one leg in the well. "Well," she said, waving, "see ya!" She slid the other leg inside and jumped.

Inuyasha was silent for a moment as he stood next to the well, looking down at the bottom. Then he crossed his arms and sighed.

He was about to turn around and head to the village when an unexpected _THUMP _hit him on the back of his head. He cried out, losing his balance, and toppling over the edge of the well face-first. "AAAAAAAAUUUGH—!" he hollered, before he disappeared.

* * *

Shippo landed with a quiet _tap _on the side of the well, smirking. Not only had he accomplished his goal of sneaking up behind Inuyasha and not getting caught, he had also secured the certainty that the two of them would be gone for several days, so the remaining group could do whatever they wanted.

He laughed, turned around, and transformed into his balloon form and floated away to meet the others at the village. _Now, the only thing that would make this moment better would be some of Kagome's snacks… _he thought, heading to the village to meet up with the others, who by now were probably relaxing by a fire at the village.

* * *

**A/N: Haha. The group is so lazy. XD They didn't even bother to try to look for Naraku.**

**And Shippo… so evil. **

**Well, I hope this chapter was OK; I haven't had much sleep lately, but I REALLY wanted to try to finish this story before Christmas. So, yeah, I don't know how good it was. **

**Anyways! R&R peoplez! :P **


	2. Baby it's Cold Outside

Chapter 2: Baby it's Cold Outside 

**A/N: Woot! FINALLY, here's the update! **

**So, I received a question on this, so I feel the need to address it before the story. **

**These are the reasons why Inuyasha didn't notice Shippo coming up behind him. **

**A) he was focused on thinking about Kagome **

**B) he was exhausted because he'd been running for hours and hours with Kagome on his back**

**and **

**C) Shippo had been flying in his pink balloon form to the well, so he transformed back to his normal form and kicked Inuyasha in the back of his head after dropping **

**I'd tried to put it into the story, but it flowed better without it. So I left it out. **

**Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

Kagome had struggling to climb out of the well when she saw a glimmer in the corner of her eye. Bewildered, she turned around, only to see Inuyasha materialize upside-down next to her.

He floated a moment, back to her and legs up in the air in an odd position, before the glow disappeared and he face-planted in the ground next to her, legs twitching above him. (This amused Kagome very much, because for the first time, it had nothing to do with the "sit" beads.) Then the rest of his body followed suit, and he lay flat on the ground.

There was an awkward pause before Inuyasha yanked his head out of the ground, spitting out dirt frantically. He muttered something inaudible as he scrambled to sit up.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed, beaming. "You're coming with _after _all!"

His head jerked up to look at her, eyes blank with confused shock. **(A/N: Imagine an expression like this: `'-') **

Eyes shining almost comically, she clasped her hands together and cheered, "You won't regret it!"

Inuyasha stared up at her, dismayed, although Kagome was too excited to notice. _That's what you said before, and yet I'm already regretting it… _he thought, sighing.

* * *

"Mama! Grandpa! Souta! We're back!" Kagome called, closing the door behind her, followed by Inuyasha, who was looking dazed. She took off her several layers of coats and hung them from the coat rack, revealing a long-sleeved red shirt underneath, and quite eagerly kicked off the ugly boots she'd been wearing.

Mrs. Higurashi dashed out to the corridor. She smiled when she saw the two of them. "Kagome! You're here!"

Kagome sighed. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier, I know I promised…"

Her mother shook her head. "No, no, it's alright. As long as you're here now." Then she smiled even wider. "You must be exhausted! You two should go to bed now, it's not like there's anything to do this late… besides, Souta and Grandpa are already in bed."

Kagome nodded in relief. She looked a lot more tired all of the sudden. "Yeah… Thanks, Mom…" She yawned and went upstairs to her room.

Inuyasha started to head upstairs, but then Kagome's mother reached out after him and stopped him. "Inuyasha?" She looked much more solemn now.

Confused and still partially in a trance, he turned. "Wuzzat?"

She let go of him and smiled a little. Her smile was… mischievous? Naw, that couldn't be right. "Inuyasha, there's something that I need to ask you…"

* * *

Kagome had a really weird dream that night.

It seemed kind of like the movie of _A Christmas Carol_, only instead of Ebenezer Scrooge, it was Inuyasha. And instead of Marley being the ghost who came to warn him of his fate, it was Midoriko coming out of the Sacred Jewel with the shell-threaded string tying her to the jewel. Miroku was Mr. Cratchit, Sango was his wife, and then the daughters* were kids she'd never seen before, Kohaku as Peter, and Shippo was Tiny Tim. Fan was Shiori. The Spirit of Christmas Past was Kanna, Present was Kouga, and Future was—_gasp_—Naraku in his baboon cloak, except he never said anything. At the end of the dream, she saw Inuyasha leave his house all happy, and finally…!

The rest of the movie never happened.

She woke up the next morning, extremely weirded out. _That is definitely the weirdest dream I've ever had in my entire LIFE._

With a confused sigh, she pushed off the covers of her bed and headed to the kitchen.

"G'morning, Mom, Souta, Inuy—…" she began, then froze. "INUYASHA?!" Kagome screamed, gawking. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Said half-demon was struggling to get untangled from multicolored Christmas lights, which were wrapped around his body, flashing every few seconds; every time he tried to get unwrapped, he just seemed to get more tangled up in it. Inuyasha looked up when he heard Kagome's shout. "Oh, good morning, Kagome," he greeted unusually matter-of-factly. "I was just…" Inuyasha trailed off as he shifted again, causing the bulbs to tighten around him. He fell over, face first.

Kagome could do nothing but gape.

After a moment, he rolled over and (sort of) faced her. "I'm hanging up Christmas decorations, because no one else can reach the rooftops, and there's no lah-der for them to use," he finally finished.

There was a brief moment of silence. Then Kagome face-palmed.

"Inuyasha…" she muttered with a sigh, "Just let me handle it all."

"But—" he tried to object.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped angrily, rubbing her temples. "Just… just don't do anything stupid, OK? That's all I need."

Kagome sighed. After another moment of awkward silence, Kagome turned to leave, but then Inuyasha called out after her. "Hey! Wait! Kagome!"

She turned around, exasperated. "What now?!"

Inuyasha paused sheepishly. He seemed to blush… No, that was probably just from the lights flashing… "Uh… Kagome, I'm… I'm stuck."

* * *

The days came and went. Suddenly, it was only two days before Christmas.

Of course, they'd already done everything so they weren't worried; they'd done the lights, the holly, some wreaths all around the house, gone shopping for presents for each other (when they weren't looking, of course), they'd bought all the Christmas foods and snacks, and the Christmas tree…

Wait…

"WE FORGOT THE CHRISTMAS TREE!" Kagome screamed suddenly, standing up from the couch in a flash. It was around 8 in the morning, and they'd all been gathered around the TV, watching a rerun of the non-cartoony _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ in silence before Kagome's sudden outburst, thus causing them all to nearly jump out of their own skins; Inuyasha had a reaction not unlike when he'd been "sat".

Kagome's mother gasped. "How did I forget the tree?! I'll go out and get it now, don't worry—"

Kagome cut her off. "No, really, it's fine," she interrupted, smiling. "There's a guy selling Christmas trees around the corner. I can just run over there and get one."

Her mother frowned. "Kagome, it's too cold to walk, and the trees will be too heavy! You're too young to drive!"

She shook her head. "I can carry a tree around the block. It won't take _too_ long. Plus, all that time in the Feudal Era has made my arms really strong." Her mother tried to argue, but Kagome didn't give her a chance before she ran towards the door, shouting, "I'll be back soon! Bye!" and closing the door behind her.

Kagome's mother sighed. "Oh, I hope she'll be all right…"

* * *

Needless to say, she wasn't.

Kagome came home, exhausted. Her teeth chattered, and she weakly dragged the tree into the living room and placed it upright on a circular blanket, which was surrounded by presents. "I-I'll d-de-decorate th-the t-tree tom-m-tomorrow," she stuttered out through the chattering. "D-don't wuh-worry…"

She started to fall over, but Inuyasha was by her side in a flash. "Kagome!" he cried, catching her. She passed out almost immediately.

The girl's mother gasped. "Oh, I knew I shouldn't have let her go!" She sighed. "Inuyasha, can you please take her to her room? She shouldn't have pushed herself so hard in the blizzard!" She continued to mutter about how Kagome was going to make herself sick, but Inuyasha was no longer listening; he dashed up the stairs and ran into her room. He tried to set her down on her bed, but suddenly, her arms wrapped around his neck tightly. Still asleep, she whispered sleepily, "Nooo… Inuyasha… don't… go…"

Inuyasha's face turned as red as his robe, but he obliged, not wanting to wake her.

He stood for a few seconds, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, before he sighed. He sat down on Kagome's bed, blushing once more, before propping up in a comfortable cross-legged position on her pillow, her on his lap. Inuyasha inhaled, reveling in Kagome's scent, which coated everything about the room, including Kagome herself, whose head now rested on his shoulder.

He sighed blissfully, enjoying the guilty pleasure, and yawned. _I'll just… stay here… a… little while… longer… _

That was the last thing the poor guy could think.

* * *

**A/N: This felt like a really random, really rushed chapter to me… but I was like, "I want to finish this before Christmas, darn it, and I'm going to FREAKING DO IT!" So here I am, trying to get in another chapter before I leave on vacation tomorrow for Indiana, where most of my relatives from my mom's side live. I don't know if I'll be able to update there, but I will try.**

**I will now address the reference. **

***I was referring to Sango's twin daughters, who are in the Final Act. Also, that was a reference to a story I'm going to write for Christmas next year. ^.^ **

**And now, if you are reading this, REVIEW. I don't care what you say in the review, heck, it can just be "lol", but just do it. -_- Seriously. Right now. **


	3. Christmas Fever

Chapter 3: Christmas Fever

**A/N: Well, the good news is that I did end up being able to update! **

**The bad news is that my head hurts like crazy from so much forced writing—but not that you care anyways. -_-**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The first thing that Kagome noticed upon waking was that she was warm. Like, _really _warm. And she'd been sleeping in an odd position.

Her chocolate-brown eyes slowly opened…

…and met the sleeping face of Inuyasha. His arms were wrapped around her waist, and she was _sitting on his lap_.

Kagome froze. Then, once what was happening sank in, she blushed furiously. "I-INUYASHAAAAAA!" she screamed, pushing him away to stand on the floor, face growing even more red from the exertion from screaming.

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open from the sudden noise, and he fell off the bed with a cry. He jumped up after landing on the floor. "What?! Wuzzat?!"

Kagome's death glare immediately let him know what was happening. "Inuyashaaaaaa…" she whispered, voice deadly low.

He gulped.

"SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT-SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

Inuyasha repeatedly face-planted.

The sound of gasping interrupted the screaming. Inuyasha yanked his head out of the indent in the floor to stare at Kagome, whose face was a deep, sickly red. She panted loudly.

Inuyasha stood up slowly. "…Kagome? Are you… OK?"

Kagome collapsed to the floor to a kneeling position.

"Kagome!" he cried, dashing over to her side.

She breathed heavily. "No—" she wheezed through gasps, "It's—al—right. I—I'm fine. Just… just…" she trailed off as she began to cough wildly.

Inuyasha stared at her, face haunted. _"She's going to make herself sick…" _he recalled Mrs. Higurashi saying.

He wordlessly crouched down and scooped up the young girl, who was still coughing weakly, in his arms. Kagome shivered and leaned into him slightly. _She's so fragile… _Inuyasha thought, dismayed. _So small, so weak, so frail… The cold did this to her… _

He forlornly looked down at Kagome, who was curled up tightly in his arms, trembling, revealing just how sick she really was. _Kagome… I promised to protect you… I'm sorry…_

* * *

When Inuyasha walked into the kitchen with Kagome in his arms, he'd wanted to talk to her mother about what to do. He hadn't expected what happened next.

Grandpa Higurashi had been in the kitchen making himself breakfast when he looked and saw the two. He gaped in horror.

"You wicked demon!" he shrieked. "You've placed a curse on my daughter! Die, wretched demon! DIE!" He threw an exorcism paper at Inuyasha, which stuck to his forehead.

Inuyasha was silent for a moment before shuffling Kagome to one arm and using his now-free hand to rip it off. "Sheesh, old man," he said, bored. "You seriously need to learn how to use those properly. Seriously, Miroku uses them better than you, and he's the least pure monk I've ever seen… aside from his master, anyways."

Inuyasha dropped the fail of an exorcism to the ground and waltzed past Kagome's grandpa, who gawked at the ripped exorcism paper on the ground.

"Ooooh! Onii-san!" Souta chirped, running up to Inuyasha. Then he noticed his older sister. "Oh, no, Kagome!" he cried. "If she gets sick _now_, then she'll be sick for Christmas!"

Inuyasha paused again, then sighed. "Oi, Souta. Where's your mom?"

Souta thought a moment. "She's decorating the tree right now."

"Thanks, kid." He walked past him and headed to the tree.

* * *

"Oi."

Kagome's mom looked up, then gasped upon seeing her daughter in the disgruntled state she was in; apparently, she'd fallen asleep sometime during the trek to find her mother, and she moaned as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed. "Oh, you shouldn't have gone out last night!" She stood and approached them, and placed her hand on Kagome's forehead. "You've got a fever, dear. You need to stay in bed today, and Souta and I will work on the tree."

Kagome's eyes grew wide with worry. "Oh, no, Mama! I told you I'd—" She broke off to a coughing fit.

Her mother sighed. "Inuyasha?" she asked, looking up at him. "Can you please take her back to her room again? I'll make some soup and get her some medicine, but she needs to stay in bed…"

He nodded and took Kagome up to her room.

* * *

Inuyasha set her down on her bed, covering her with her blankets. "Oi, Kagome," he commented after she was comfortably settled with him standing next to the bed.

She looked up at him. Her chocolate-brown eyes glimmered in the dim light, and she looked beautiful despite how ill she was. "Mm-hm?" she murmured, yawning a bit.

"You…" He hesitated. "You really shouldn't push yourself so hard. Other people can help you, ya know."

Kagome smiled a bit. Something told her that wasn't what he'd really wanted to say, but she didn't mind. She was just content to be in his company, and she'd said it before; she wanted to stay by his side, even if he was still in love with Kikyo, despite how much it hurt.

"I know, Inuyasha," she replied, shifting so she was resting on her elbow. Kagome sighed. "It's just that… well, I guess I'm scared. I… I've felt useless, and… well…" Her face darkened. "You said it yourself; if it wasn't for me, then you could be off finding Naraku. I'm just in the way—"

Inuyasha cut her off with surprising anger. "Don't even _think _that!"

Kagome's eyes widened, and she stared, confused.

Inuyasha paused, and his face grew a little red. "Well… It's just… It's just…"

Kagome leaned in a little closer. "Hm?"

Inuyasha subconsciously followed her example. "Well…"

Suddenly they were separated only by inches of air. Their eyes slowly closed and they leaned in even closer—

The door opened. "Onii-san!"

Kagome and Inuyasha leapt away from each other, hearts pounding like crazy. Kagome hid her head under her pillow, the blood rushing to her face. _Wh…What was THAT about?! _she thought, barely controlling her gasps. _He… he almost… He almost…! _

Inuyasha, on the other hand, tried to ignore his pounding heart and probably red face as he listened to what Souta had to say, but he was silently screaming, _YOU RUINED THE MOMENT! _

After Souta left, and after their pulses grew steady once more, Inuyasha approached the girl who was reluctantly pulling her head out of her pillow. "Your mom needs me to go help with the tree."

Kagome met his gaze. "I… see…"

Inuyasha hesitated before adding, "And she's gonna come in here with your… ah, whatchamacallits later, but you need to stay in bed."

She sighed. "Yeah, yeah… I get it."

They were both silent for a moment before Inuyasha nodded and dashed out of the room, leaving Kagome alone for the rest of the day.

* * *

**A/N: This was a much more dramatic chapter than the previous have been, but I'm trying to lean more towards the "ROMANCE" part of it now, even though Inuyasha became pretty OOC. **

**Replies to anonymous users: **

**heather: THANK YOU! And here's the update! :P **

**Lizzie-san'sLife: ROFL. XD And thank you! Hope I don't disappoint!**

**Now! Review or else you shall suffer the wrath of Sango in a rage! O_o Seriously IF YOU READ THIS THEN ENTER ONE WORD. Reviews make me want to keep writing! That's all I need, thank you. **

**And by the way, next chapter's the end! Enjoy! **


	4. A Merry Christmas Indeed

Chapter 4: A Merry Christmas Indeed 

**A/N: Yo, peeps! FINALLY, I AM DONE! **

**And it's Christmas Day—not a moment too soon! Phew! **

**I'll have you know this is my first multi-chapter fanfic that I've actually completed! **

**Okay, it's not my best work. But I'm certainly proud! WOOT! **

**Now, read before the day is done~!**

* * *

IT WAS FINALLY TIME!

After all the exhausting preparations, all the draining decorating, and so much cold that Kagome got a fever, it was FINALLY CHRISTMAS DAY!

In the morning, when Kagome finally woke up, she realized to her surprise that she didn't feel sick anymore, just lonely. _Mom's soup really does work magic,_ she found herself musing as she slid out of bed, eager to start the holiday.

Not surprisingly, Inuyasha, Souta, Mrs. Higurashi, and Gramps were all already awake, and when they saw Kagome, they beamed. "Kagome!" her mother exclaimed, overjoyed. "You're better now?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Mm-hm! And I'm glad, too, cuz it wouldn't be fun to be sick on Christmas."

Souta grinned. "Yeah! Now you can open presents!"

"Not so fast, kids," Mrs. Higurashi interrupted. "Before we open presents, we need to make breakfast. And besides, we still haven't finished decorating the hallway."

Kagome's mind was hazy due to the aftermath of her fever, so she didn't question why they weren't done. "Alright," she agreed. "We can eat breakfast and finish decorating, and _then_ we can open our gifts."

* * *

It was around ten in the morning, and they still weren't done with decorating. Kagome, who had been told to stay in the kitchen and eat breakfast as not to make her sick again from the effort of decorating, was making hot chocolate for herself and her family. She grabbed her own mug that was decorated with a snowman on the side, strode over to the table, and collapsed in a chair. Kagome reclined a bit, exhausted, and gently sipped her hot chocolate.

Inuyasha, who was waiting in the kitchen too, having been told to watch out for Kagome, stared in fascination at the mug in Kagome's hands. "Oi," he said, interested. "Wuzzat?"

Absentmindedly, Kagome replied, "It's called hot chocolate."

_Hot chocolate, _he repeated in his mind, gaze shifting to the other mugs that had been left on the counter. Inuyasha sniffed quietly, and suddenly swooned, captivated, upon smelling the scent coming off of the hot chocolate.

Kagome didn't notice what was going on until Inuyasha had already crept over, grabbed a mug, and crooned, "Ooooh, this is sooo good!" (slurp) "Almost as good as ramen!" (sluuuuuurp)

Kagome snapped to attention and spun around. "OH, NO! INUYASHA!" she cried out, gasping in horror. "DON'T DRINK THAT!"

By the time she'd finally said this, however, he'd already guzzled down over half the mug. He looked up reluctantly from his drink when he heard her. "Wut?" (slurp) "Why? What's wrong?" (sluuuurp)

Kagome's horrified expression increased. "That's… you drank… you drank _hot chocolate_…"

Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow and continued to drink. "Yeah?" (slurp) "So?" (sluuuuuuurp…) Now there was nothing left in the cup, and Inuyasha looked in, disappointed, at the brownish, powdery residue at the bottom.

Kagome's face looked just as devastated. _How… How do you explain to a half-dog demon from the Feudal Era the problems with dogs and _chocolate_?! _

* * *

Well, twenty minutes later, the answer became evident when Inuyasha was writhing on the floor, gasping, "Wh… What was _in _that _drink_?!"

Kagome sweat-dropped. "Well… you see, you're, um… half dog, and, uh… well, in this century, chocolate to dogs is…" She hesitated, then blurted, "Chocolate to dogs is toxic!"

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "I-I'M GOING TO _DIE_ FROM THAT DRINK?!" Inuyasha howled, before writhing in agony again.

Kagome paused. "Well… uh, no, I don't think so. To my knowledge, dogs usually only get sick. But… well," she explained uncomfortably, "you're just gonna have to be like… like _this _for a while."

The half-demon moaned and rolled over. "Whyyyyy… Oh, whyyyyyyyy…" he groaned. He continued to yell out randomly, but Kagome was no longer there; she'd fled to her room and slammed it behind her.

She leaned against the door and tears streaked down her face. _None of tis would've happened if I would've just stayed in the past, _she thought. _Everything that's happened… it's all my fault! _

Kagome crawled dejectedly to the center of the room and sobbed. She fell asleep, curled up in a ball like a child, trembling.

* * *

After sundown, and after Inuyasha had mostly recovered, he slowly, cautiously got up and climbed the stairs to Kagome's room.

"Kagome?" he called out, tapping on the door.

There was no reply.

"Uh, Kagome?"

"GO AWAY!"

Inuyasha leapt back at the sudden screech; her voice had been dry and sounded hurt. "Kagome, come out."

He could suddenly hear sobbing. "It's all my fault," she wailed. "Everything that's happened—it's all my fault."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, surprised. "Kagome—"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She continued to cry loudly.

Inuyasha hesitated. "Kagome… please come out. There's something that I want to give you." _And you know I can't stand it when you cry. _

There was a brief pause. Then slowly, Kagome opened the door. Her face was flushed and streaked with remnants of tears, her eyes were red, and her hair was tangled and messy.

Inuyasha looked at her forlornly. _Kagome, none of this is your fault, why are you so upset?! _"Kagome… come on."

The tired priestess nodded weakly before following him into the living room.

* * *

"Kagome…" Inuyasha said quietly upon sitting down on the couch, "This… this is something that I got for you."

He crept over to the tree and gingerly reached underneath, pulling out a small box. "…Here, this is for you."

Eyes wide, she gently took it from him and unwrapped it. She looked even more shocked when she opened the box inside to reveal a small golden necklace on the inside, lined with small diamonds. "Inuyasha," Kagome breathed. "How did you…?"

He looked sheepish. "Your mother… she told me that you'd want something like this, and… well…"

Kagome beamed. "Thank you, Inuyasha."

His cheeks grew a little dark. "K-Keh."

To his surprise, she stood and said, "I got something for you, too."

She reached under the tree and handed him a large box. He opened it…

…And pulled out about twenty packages of ramen.

His eyes practically grew the size of baseballs. "Wha…?!"

Now it was Kagome's turn to be embarrassed. "W-well," she stammered, "I c-couldn't think of w-what else you w-would want, s-so I… I… uh… well, yeah," she finished lamely.

An awkward silence passed.

Then, suddenly, Inuyasha began to laugh. He laughed so hard he fell off the couch.

After a few moments passed, Kagome joined in on the laughter. And, still chuckling, they climbed up the stairs, hand in hand.

* * *

They slowly stopped laughing and grew serious in the hallway leading to her room. They turned to face each other, and they held both of the other's hands in their own.

Kagome smiled—she looked much better now—and told him, "Thank you, Inuyasha. I… I really appreciate it."

Inuyasha began to smirk back, but then suddenly froze, sniffed, and looked up. "Uh, Kagome?" Inuyasha questioned, staring directly above them. "What's that thing?"

Confused, Kagome looked up. Her mouth fell open when she saw what he was looking at—mistletoe.

Seeing Kagome's expression of shock, he asked nervously, "Uh… Kagome? What's wrong? What is that?"

Kagome's face flushed with embarrassment and she stared at her feet as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. She squirmed. "Ah… well… it's called… mistletoe." She blushed even deeper. "It's… it's supposed to bring good luck to… um… _kiss_ under."

Inuyasha's eyes widened.

Then suddenly, she leaned forward and pecked Inuyasha on the lips, before turning away to hide her face.

Inuyasha froze, stunned. _She… she just…_

Kagome hid her face in her hands, mind going a mile a minute. _Oh, I cannot believe this… I just kissed him… When did I become so bold?! Why did I have to tell him what it meant?! Why couldn't I just pretend I didn't know? What if he doesn't return my feelings? What if he hates me now?! MAMA, SOUTA! I AM GOING TO FREAKING KILL YOU! _

Despite Kagome being so flustered and panicked, Inuyasha grabbed her shoulder, spun her around suddenly, and kissed her back.

It was quick, but sure. Then Inuyasha pulled away, blushed, and dashed off, leaving Kagome shocked with a bright red face at the top of the staircase.

* * *

The following day, despite how uncomfortable and unsure they were in each other's presence, they went back to the Feudal Era the following day.

To their shock, when they entered the village, they immediately spotted Miroku partying it up in the center of the village, Shippo showing off to some little girls in the village his shape-shifting abilities, and Sango, relaxing obliviously next to Kirara, and a small fire going. She seemed unaware of Miroku's antics.

But when Inuyasha appeared in the village, they all froze.

"Oh, I-Inuyasha," Miroku stuttered. "W-we were just—"

"Youuuuuu guyyyyyyyyyyys…" Inuyasha hissed in a dangerously low voice.

They all gulped, including the villagers.

Suddenly, they all knew this was going to be a very, very long day…

* * *

**A/N: Haha, yep! Random, I know! And I couldn't think of any other gift Kagome would get him, except for the ramen, so… that's what I went with… **

**Not exactly romantic… '^.^ **

**BUT! If you enjoyed this story, please review! **

**Thank you! And now… **

**Go listen to Gangnam Style and randomly dance! **

**MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! **


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